


Sunshine and Galaxies

by ChipOfftheOldSoul



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Awkward Jack Zimmermann, Baker Bitty, Bitty dyes his hair, Fluff, Jack is not a stalker, M/M, Meet-Cute, One Shot, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 10:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14566737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChipOfftheOldSoul/pseuds/ChipOfftheOldSoul
Summary: There's a cute boy on Jack's ride home, and Jack kinda likes him. Then Jack really likes him.





	Sunshine and Galaxies

**Author's Note:**

> I intended this as a warm-up and ended up with nearly 2000 words. Oh well.
> 
> Prompt is from tumblr intimiwetrust (though I found it through onetruepairingideas): We’re passing each other on our bikes and I’m sorry I’m staring at you but your hair is the colour of the galaxy and fuck, your face is cute too and now I drove head first into a lamp post could you please stop laughing.
> 
> Wasn't sure what color the galaxy was supposed to be, and just decided that Bitty dyes his hair lots of colors for fun. Enjoy!

Whenever he could get away with it, Jack biked the same route home every afternoon after training. His route took him through a park with several gardens that were just beginning to bloom with the onset of spring and it was this sight, and only this sight, that drew him to the park each day. His decision was definitely not at all impacted by the cute guy he saw also biking through the park at least every other day.

Their paths usually crossed on the park paths a few miles from work, but because they were always biking the same way, Jack never saw more than the guy’s profile for more than a few seconds at a time. His skin was lightly golden, his nose was slightly turned up, his soft blond hair ruffled in the wind as he rode, and he had three freckles in a perfect little triangle just below his left ear. Jack reminded himself almost daily that he wasn’t a creepy stalker.

It was just that Cute Sunshine Guy, because there was no other name for him, drew him in every time. He swore every day that _this_ would be the day he actually introduced himself to Cute Sunshine Guy, but he always chickened out. They had only spoken once, and that had been a disaster.

They had both been stopped waiting at the crosswalk together at the point just before their paths diverged, and Jack and been wracking his brain for something witty to say when Cute Sunshine Guy had beat him. “Hi, hun!” he had said, and his voice was syrupy sweet with a southern accent that Jack hadn’t expected. Jack had melted just at the sound of it. “It’s such a nice day today, isn’t it?”

Jack was completely and utterly unprepared, but still, he had tried. Unfortunately, all that came out of his mouth was, “Yeah. Uh, sunny.” The light had changed then and Cute Sunshine Guy had waved, crossed the street, and turned right before Jack had been able to fix his feet on his pedals and move. He spent the rest of his route berating himself. Sunny? _Sunny?_ God, he sounded like an idiot! Shitty and Lardo had gotten a kick out of the story at least and had teased him mercilessly for hours before proving that they weren’t awful friends by consoling him with cuddles and old movies.

The worst part was that he hadn’t seen Cute Sunshine Guy at all for a full week. Missing him for one or two days was normal, nothing to worry about. Three days was disheartening, but at four days, Jack had begun panicking. He was sure he had run Cute Sunshine Guy off with his signature awkwardness. His stupid Hockey Robot personality had once again manifested at the worst possible time and had scared off the gorgeous man Jack had barely even talked to.

The same inner monologue continued for three more days until finally, _finally_ , he saw Cute Sunshine Guy again. Except he wasn’t _Cute_ Sunshine Guy anymore. During his absence, the blond man had buzzed the hair on the sides of his head short, leaving the hair on top long, and Jack’s mouth dry. How did such a simple, fairly common haircut affect Jack so much? It hadn’t affected him this way when Lardo or the man in the apartment across the hall got the same haircut, but still, somehow, Jack had no choice but to change the other man’s epithet from Cute Sunshine Guy to Hot Sunshine Guy. Just as he had decided this within himself, Hot Sunshine Guy noticed him and waved before riding off while Jack’s bike wobbled completely of its own accord.

In the weeks since then, that had remained their status quo; Jack watched Hot Sunshine Guy whenever they were in the park at the same time, and if Hot Sunshine Guy saw him, he waved cheerfully while Jack sputtered inelegantly. Jack figured that would remain their norm until either Jack died of frustration or Hot Sunshine Guy change his routine, presumably to date and marry someone as bright and warm as he was.

Jack was running late one Thursday. He had hurt his knee in a bad fall during the game the night before and Joseph, the Falcs’ trainer had insisted on checking it out again before he left practice. He didn’t even hope to see Hot Sunshine Guy on his way home, which was disappointing considering that he hadn’t seen him the afternoon before either.

He was just passing the point where Hot Sunshine Boy and Jack’s paths usually converged when he looked up and saw someone familiar biking toward him on the otherwise empty path. It took him maybe half a second to register that the man looked a lot like Hot Sunshine Guy—same white bike, same upturned nose, same bright smile—and then shake his head at himself and his own pathetic crush because while this man was very attractive, he could not be Hot Sunshine Guy for two reasons.

The first reason was, of course, that he was riding toward Jack instead of away.

The second reason was that this person’s hair, while also an undercut, was died dark blues and purples with highlights of turquois scattered throughout so that all together, it looked like a snapshot of the galaxy. It was beautiful, definitely, but couldn’t be Hot Sunshine Guy.

Or so he thought until the man waved at him and said, “Hi, hun,” in Hot Sunshine Guy’s voice. How many other guys could there be in Providence with that same southern accent? With no other thought besides the pure and desperately reckless instinct that guided him, Jack whipped his head toward the galaxy-haired man as they passed one another, looking for that perfect triangle of freckles. He thought maybe he saw them just under the man’s ear—

But his lack of awareness and basic common sense cost him, and the next thing he knew, his bike was stopped by a lamp post and Jack was pitched forward and flung onto the grass.

His first thought as he lay on his stomach was, ‘Joseph is going to kill me.’

His second thought was, “This is all your fault, Hot Sunshine Guy.”

“What did you call me?” said a voice from overhead. Jack rolled over and was mortified to see Hot Sunshine Boy crouched over him, galaxy hair, freckles, and all. A grin teased his very soft looking lips.

Jack jerked himself into a sitting position. “Nothing! I didn’t say anything!”

“Really? I could have sworn you were blaming some ‘Hot Sunshine Boy’ for your fall, and considering that I was the only person nearby, I have to assume that’s me.” His grin was full blown now and Jack groaned at his own idiocy. Jack resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands.

“Nope,” he said. “Didn’t call anyone anything. It was just a figment of your imagination.” That dragged a full laugh out of the other man, and now Jack really did hide his face in his hands, though he peeked through the gap between his fingers at the laughing man sitting next to him. He was even more gorgeous laughing himself breathless like this, even if he was laughing at Jack.

“It wasn’t that funny,” he said, though his voice was muffled enough that he wasn’t sure Hot Sunshine Guy could hear him.

Apparently, he did, though, because, wiping away a tear, he replied, “I’m sorry, honey, but it really, really is. It’s just, well, I’ve thought you hated me all these weeks.”

“Oh. Um, I don’t,” Jack offered. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. Hot Sunshine Guy was kind enough to take pity on him.

“For the record, most people call me Bitty,” he said.

“Bitty,” Jack tried it out. He liked the way it tasted. “I’m Jack. It’s nice to meet you, properly.” Hot— _Bitty_ smiled again, more softly than before.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jack,” he said. They sat watching each other in a not-quite-awkward silence until Bitty stood up abruptly. “C’mon. I’m on my way back to the bakery where I work—I forgot my phone there, like an idiot—and it’s not far from here. We can get you some ice there. You’ve got a bit of a bump growing there.” He gestured to Jack’s head which prompted Jack to prod gently around his crown until he found the swollen bump near his temple and grimaced.

Jack almost refused Bitty’s offer. His apartment wasn’t too much further and he had plenty of ice packs there. Besides, he had probably banged up his knee again, and shouldn’t be on it for too much longer. But when he saw Bitty’s face fall a little at Jack’s extended silence, he hurriedly changed his mind. “Sure, that sounds great, thanks.” Bitty flushed a little and ducked his head, and Jack wanted to reach up and play with his dyed hair.

While they slowly pushed their bikes along, they talked, some of Jack’s awkwardness falling away as Bitty chattered happily. Bitty was from Georgia originally, but had moved to Providence two years back planning to attend a university nearby. School hadn’t worked out in the long run, but Bitty hadn’t minded and had ended up working at the bakery because he refused to move back to Georgia. The bakery wasn’t Bitty’s, though he did admit, “All the best recipes are mine, so everyone acts like I own the place, except for the owners.”

As they continued, Jack confided, “I like your hair like this. Not that I didn’t like it before, just, uh, what made you decide to dye it?” Bitty ears turned pink.

“When I went in to get my hair chopped a few weeks ago, I saw a picture of someone with their hair like this, and I just—it’s so different from anything I would have seen in my family’s home town that I wanted it. I kept thinking about it so yesterday, I finally went back in and got it done.”

“It looks good,” Jack said, and nearly tripped when Bitty winked at him.

“Oh, this is us!” Bitty said, saving Jack from doing something, like kissing Bitty right there. They locked their bikes up outside the small shop and headed in. The place was still open, though it must have been a slow point in the afternoon because the only people there at the moment seemed to all be employees, three young guys all leaning against the front counter and chatting.

“Bitty, you’re back!” the cheerful Asian boy said, cutting across whatever the other two had been arguing about.

“Yo, Bits, we found your phone,” the guy with darker skin said. He ducked to dig under the counter for a moment before emerging and tossing an iPhone across the counter to Bitty.

“Thanks, Nursey,” Bitty said. “Hey, could one of you go grab my friend, Jack, some ice? He took a nasty tumble in the park, and it was kinda my fault.” He grinned at Jack, who ducked.

“I got it,” Nursey said disappeared into the back. The other two guys were watching Jack closely, and he wondered if they were hockey fans.

“Bitty,” the redhead said. “Is Jack Zimmermann the same guy you’ve been calling Sexy Park Grump for the last two months?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm chipofftheoldsoul on tumblr--hmu if you have a prompt for me!
> 
> Comments and kudos build me up.


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